UK minister quits over another funding scandal

Euronews

Already tarred by allegations of illegal party funding, Britain’s prime minister Gordon Brown has been dealt another blow with the resignation of Work and Pensions Minister, Peter Hain. He quit after the electoral commission referred his late declaration of 137,000 euros for his deputy leadership campaign to the police.

Hain said: “I seriously regret the mistake in declaring the donations late and I have co-operated as soon as I was able to with the electoral commission in providing all the details they asked for and I will of course cooperate in the future with the police.” Gordon Brown has come under fire for not calling for his resignation when the scandal broke in November.

Hain, who was also Welsh Secretary, was one of Labour’s longest serving ministers. He first came to public attention as an anti-apartheid campaigner in the 1970s. Scotland Yard is also investigating a donation of more than 800,000 euros given to Labour last year through go-betweens in an apparent violation of electoral law.